A/C systems typically require routine maintenance and servicing to maintain designed levels of efficiency and effectiveness. Such maintenance and servicing may also have an affect on the longevity of the A/C systems, being that keeping an A/C system in better condition may allow the system to remain useful for a longer period than without maintenance and servicing.
To perform maintenance and service on A/C systems, technicians generally employ specialty equipment suited for specific tasks. Depending on the tasks the technician needs to perform, he may have to employ more than one A/C system service tool. Such tools may include one or more of a recovery machine, a refrigerant scale, a vacuum pump, a refrigerant recovery tank, etc. Commonly, a technician may use a manifold gauge set to couple an A/C system service tool with the A/C system, and to monitor and regulate the refrigerant flow to and from the A/C system. Manifold gauge sets are manually controlled and monitored by the technician.
Depending on the maintenance and service to be performed on and A/C system, and other factors, like the size, age, and model of the A/C system, time to complete the tasks may be lengthy and require significant attention from the technician. Lengthy and/or attention intensive tasks may slow the overall completion of the tasks involved in the maintenance and service of the A/C system. Further, there maybe be significant lag time between tasks if the technician is required to set up different equipment for some of the tasks, including time to disconnect the previously used equipment and connect the needed equipment, and making manual adjustments to the settings on the manifold gauge set.
It is desirable to provide a method and apparatus, for example, an A/C service tool controller for automating control of one or more A/C service tools by connecting the service tools to the apparatus, which may control the power supply to the service tools and the flow of refrigerant between the A/C system and the service tools.